Comparison: MAC Virgin Isle CCB vs BB Cabo and Calypso Coral

Long time no see everyone!! I've just been really busy with some stuff, but hopefully things will be settling down soon so yay! :D

Summer is quickly coming to an end, so I figured I'd do a swatch comparison of my favorite summer coral cream blushers: MAC Virgin Isle, BB Cabo Coral and BB Calypso coral. They are all similar and within the same color family, but I do think they are different enough to own all three. (Or maybe I'm just trying to rationalize it to myself.)

In my opinion Cabo coral is the most different from the three. It's much more "subtle"/nude coral as compared to Calypso Coral which is a bright corally pink and MAC Virgin Isle which I find is a corally orange.

FYI: MAC Virgin Isle CCB is availible ONLY at MAC Pro unfortunately. HOWEVER, it did come out in a collection a while back and can be found at some of the Cosmetic Company Outlets.

Diving into Illamasqua

So without question my all time favorite blush brand has got to be NARS. With that said, I think Illamsaqua blushers fall into second place. During the Sephora 15% off madness, I got 3 Illamasqua blushers: Katie, Tremble, and Create.

Top: create
Bottom left to right: Katie, Tremble

PACKAGING: It's a little bulky, but something about them is kinda nice. I like the ergonomic design of them. They are lightweight with a clear lid so you can see the color inside unlike the NARS packaging where everything looks the same. I also have to say the plastic case that it is in seems a little flimsy and cheap, but I'll live.

PRICE: $23.00 for 0.14 oz compared to NARS $26.00 for 0.16 oz
PRODUCT: Ok. I have to say the texture of these blushers are unlike any other blush I've had. In fact I find it hard to explain/drescribe these. I find that the texture of these blushers are a bit "chalky" and powdery. However, they apply like a dream. They are easy to blend and apply. They are also very pigmented, but not as much as say NARS Exhibit A or NARS Taj Mahal...which is a good thing. I'm finding it tedious applying these uber pigmented blushers lately.

COLORS: I know the most popular color that I see people using is Hussy, but for some reason I passed over it and opted for these 3. They seemed more "unique" as to what I own and have seen out on the market. I also like how all the blushers in this range (thus far at least) are all matte in a market overflowing with shimmer and glimmer.

- Create is a lovely peachy bronze color that's great for contouring or for use as a bronzer. I find that this doesn't really pull that orange on me despite the burnt umber shade that it is in the pan. I find this color to be very unique! I have yet to find a blush that is like this! (I'm sure there is a dupe out there somewhere but none that I've come across.)


-Katie is a lovely pale lilac-y pink...a matte version of MAC Well Dressed from what I've heard. (I don't personally own Well Dressed so I can not speak as to how they compare.) I was a little hesitant to order this since it is a cooler lilac-y pink blush and I was worried it would clash with my warm yellow complexion. However, this gives me the most fresh, innocent pink glow and I think it even counteracts my yellowness a little.

-Tremble is a slightly deeper pink tinged than Katie and less milky, no trace of lilac and with a little tiny tiny hint of rose. In the pan it's a pretty peachy pink shade, however on the cheek I find this to be similar to Cargo Catalina and possibly a matte dupe of NARS Deep Throat.

Product Spotlight: NARS Alhambra Eyeshadow Duo

So I did some stash shopping today and dug out my much neglected NARS Alhambra. I got this as an alternative to NARS All About Eve, which was just too cool toned and frosty on me. While Alhambra is frosty on me as well if I over apply, but it's warm toned, thus MUCH more wearable! :D


The one side is a gilded pink-y champagne. The other is a golden apricot-ish shade. The texture on both of these shades are soft and buttery, though I find the golden apricot side a tad harder in texture, but not so much that it's hard to blend or anything like that.

I like using the champagne shade all over for a nice glowy nude eye look. To be honest I have NO CLUE how to wear these two colors together. I need a slightly darker "contour" shade in my crease to give my eyes some dimension.

I took some swatches of NARS Alhambra and close "dupes" from my stash

Left to right: Stila Icon, Stila Kitten, NARS Alhambra 1, NARS Alhambra 2, UD X

NARS Alhambra 2, the golden apricot, isn't as orange as swatched. It's a little more golden neutral.)
I don't know why UD X is a lovely subtle duo-chrome..pink to golden melon.

MAC Pigment Swatches

I have a love hate relationship with pigments and loose eye shadows. I have a bunch of The She Space pigments which I will eventually try to get around swatching, but for now just the MAC pigments. Sometimes I just don't have the patients to deal with the fall out and fuss. I used to have many more MAC pigments, but I ended up narrowing down my stash to only these few. Swatches are listed from top to bottom: Pastorale, Gold mode, Cocomotion, Provence, Tea Time, Vanilla and Deckchair. Pigments were swatched on top of UD primer potion. (Click on pictures to make them bigger.)

>>>Quick side note..I goofed when I took the pics of the pigments in the jars..the jars are in the following order: Pastorale, Provence, Gold mode, cocomotion, teatime, deckchair sample (top), Vanilla sample (bottom)

Pastorale: A nice deeper sea foam green. It looks fabulous on my brown eyes. It's not overly shimmery or glittery though which is nice.

Gold mode: Supposedly this is very similar to the other LE MAC pigment in blonde's gold. It is not as coppery/red as the picture makes it out to be. It's more of a champagne-y gold with gold micro flecks. The micro flecks tend to get everywhere but are easily buffed away.

Cocomotion: This is quite an interesting and unique color. It's a nice bronze-y gold with slight olive-y undertones to it. It is shimmery but no glitter.

Provence: This color is a gorgeous neutral! It has a lot of golden tones to it with golden shimmer. I love using this as a wash.

Tea Time: Nice neutral to warm brown. This is more matte than many of the other pigments. It's got more of a stain finish to it.

Vanilla: Possible a "cult fave", this is a pretty shimmery opalescent pink-y pearl. While it is a lovely color, sometimes I am not a fan of the pink tones in it on my yellow skin tone.

Deckchair: So pretty! It reminds me a lot of Stila Kitten e/s. It's a nice shimmery pink/peach champagne color. This has tones of shimmer to it, so I need to use it carefully.